What needs to be done, needs to be done now!

I was telling one of my patients that they need to quit smoking and perhaps the best way to do it would be cold turkey; pick a date and kick (the) butt! He obviously had tried numerous times and had failed. We didn't even go into the details of his attempts to quit. This important piece of advice was only a small part of my extensive interview with him and I already had more patients waiting to be seen. I wasn't the first doctor asking him to give up a habit which had only caused him harm.
So many things I ask my patients to do, are easier said than done! I might be persuasive, authoritative, gentle or even nonchalant in my approach to giving patients advice. I might be timely in my approach or very untimely. How many of my bad habits have I been able to kick by the very same approach I ask my patients to adopt? They aren't heroes who can change the ways they think and act at the drop of a hat even if it means it’s a question of life and death; and what if it is more preventive than therapeutic; does that make it easier to postpone your plan to change? How do I tell my patients that this process is going to be tough and they have to stick it out? How do I tell them that I will be there every step of the way on their good days and bad days when they're raging a battle against smoking/ drinking or any other addictions when truly I am not going to be there with them every moment of their emotional turmoil. It's their families and friends who will be; people who have been affected by the process of their spiral down will be the people who will help them climb up step by step. Of course I'll be there to check on them once in a while. So, it’s only more important to speak to the patients and their support systems at the same time; so they’re both prepared, so they both understand.

But what needs to be done needs to be done. Why are things easier said than done? Why are habits so hard to break? Why are good habits so difficult to form and sustain? It's not always a lack of motivation. It's sometimes about timing. You need to receive or give good advice at the right time, be able to strike the right cord and at the right time. But sometimes you nor your patient have the luxury of time. So, do what needs to be done as honestly and as urgently it needs to be done and hope and pray that it works.